


epilogue

by remy (iamremy)



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, M/M, SPOILERS FOR FALLOUT, post Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 08:11:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15747750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamremy/pseuds/remy
Summary: Will calls Ethan, after.





	epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaaaaaaa I LOVE FALLOUT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT
> 
> but. i'm mad because they didn't even mention will brandt! ok i got over my irritation that he's not in it, AT LEAST MENTION HIM. GOD.
> 
> anyway this is basically my version of why he wasn't there. sanjana and i were talking about reasons why will wouldn't be there, and of course i came up with the saddest possible one that didn't involve violent death. really, you should be thanking me, sanj. i could have killed him but i didn't.
> 
> it's just a drabble, but i might expand it if i feel like there's more left to say. thing is, i'm not even supposed to be writing anything longer than drabbles, but i'm shameless and have poor impulse control and fallout fucked me up. there.

“Ethan?”

Will sounds hoarse, his voice tired and scratchy, and Ethan closes his eyes, sinking back into the pillows, relief coursing through his entire body. He lets out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Yeah,” he says, quiet. “How are you?”

“Uh,” says Will. “I’m okay, I guess. Could be better. You?”

Ethan laughs a little. “Could be better,” he says. “When did you wake up?”

“Yesterday,” Will tells him. He sounds… muted. “They wouldn’t tell me where you were.”

Ethan’s heart sinks a little when he thinks of it, of Will waking up with no one by his side and no one telling him anything. He probably panicked; maybe he even had to be sedated again. Ethan’s afraid to ask, doesn’t think he can handle it right now. So instead he just says, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Will says at once. “It’s not your fault.”

Ethan would like to disagree, but that’s an argument he’d rather have face-to-face. “When did you find out?” he asks instead, keeping his voice low so he doesn’t get his ass kicked for waking people up in the middle of the night. “And _what_ did you find out?”

“Like, half an hour ago,” Will replies with a hoarse little laugh. “Uh, Brassel, he told me. Not everything, just like a really summarized version.”

“Oh.” Ethan pauses. “Probably didn’t want you to worry too much.”

Will snorts. “Yeah, what an effective strategy. I’m relaxing in bed right now, just had a spa day, that’s how fucking at ease I am about everything.”

“Hey, not my fault,” Ethan says at once. “I’d tell you everything if I could.”

“Not your fault?” repeats Will. “That one we’re gonna discuss once you’re home. Any idea when they’ll let you go?”

“Hopefully soon,” Ethan says. “Probably just going to keep me under observation for a while. I’ll be fine, though. What about you?”

“I’m okay,” Will tells him again. “Intracranial swelling’s gone down, they said, so they figured it was safe to wake me up again. I don’t know when they’ll let me leave, though, but it looks like I’m stuck here a while.”

“But you’ll be okay?” Ethan asks, mouth dry.

“Yeah,” Will says softly, and Ethan forces his body to relax. “Yeah, Ethan, I will be. Not immediately, though. It’ll take some time, they want me to do physio – you know, for the leg – but I should be cleared for field work in—”

“I don’t care about field work,” interrupts Ethan. “I just want you to focus on recovering, okay?”

There’s a short silence. Then Will says, sounding so soft, and Ethan just _knows_ he’s smiling, “Okay, Ethan.”

“Good,” says Ethan, a little too forcefully, and then he winces when it makes his ribs ache. “In any case I should be home soon.”

Will hears what Ethan’s not saying, of course he does. “Yeah, I know,” he says. “I’m getting bored without you anyway.”

“Yeah?” Ethan asks wryly.

“Yeah,” Will says. “No one’s been shooting at me trying to get to you. Hey, maybe when you guys get back, I should ask Hunley—”

Ethan inhales rather sharply, cutting Will off. They haven’t told him then, which means he’s going to be the one that has to do it.

“Ethan? What is it?”

“Will.” He tries to keep his voice as gentle as possible. “Will, Hunley’s not… he didn’t make it.”

The silence on the other end is almost deafening. The only way Ethan knows the connection’s not lost is because he can hear faint beeping over the line from whatever machines Will’s hooked up to.

“Shit,” says Will in the end, sounding fragile. “ _Fuck_. When?”

“Paris,” Ethan says quietly.

“How?” Will demands.

“Walker,” Ethan tells him.

“Fuck,” repeats Will. “Fuck Walker, _fuck_ him. If I ever see him again— _fuck_. Ethan. Please tell me you—”

“He’s dead,” Ethan says. “I made sure.”

“Good,” says Will viciously. Then he exhales, long and shaky, and Ethan aches for him, aches to be there with him.

“I’m sorry,” he says after a few moments.

“Yeah,” says Will. “Me too. He deserved better.”

“He did.”

“Ethan?”

“Yeah, Will?”

“Come home soon.”

“Yeah.”

He remains on the line even though Will doesn’t say anything else. It’s almost dawn, and the room is quiet, illuminated only by the LED displays of the machines in there, and Ethan sits up in bed, phone to his ear, and listens to Will breathe until he’s sure Will’s fallen asleep. He’s probably worn out from his injuries, from the surgeries following them, and from the strain of the conversation. Ethan can just picture him, lying there in the stark white bed, asleep with his phone still in his hand. All alone.

The ache in his chest isn’t just from his ribs.

 

Ethan’s not really expecting to see Will at the airport when he lands, but searches for him in the crowd waiting at Arrivals anyway. He pretends he can’t see Benji and Luther exchange knowing looks behind his back.

Will’s not there, of course he’s not, but Ethan’s disappointed anyway. Benji and Luther trade another look, and he pretends he doesn’t know them. They’re sort of insufferable about these things, and he’s just not in the mood for it right now.

He knows he’s supposed to go in for debriefing, and he plans on it, he does, but then he finds himself taking a left where he’s supposed to take a right, and then he just can’t bring himself to correct his course. Ten minutes later he opens the door to Will’s room and quietly lets himself in, hoping not to wake Will from what looks like a deep sleep.

He’s only just closed the door behind himself when Will calls out, voice sleep-rough. “Hey,” he says.

Ethan smiles as he approaches. “Hey,” he replies.

“You’re back,” Will says, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

“I am,” Ethan confirms, sitting down on the edge of the bed, fingers itching to touch Will.

“Took you long enough,” Will says, and grins to show he’s not serious.

Ethan shrugs. “Well, you know how these things are.” He gives in to the urge to touch and covers Will’s hand with his, taking care not to disturb anything. “How are you?”

It’s mid-morning, and the sun is filtering through the blinds on Will’s window, making patterns on his covers. His skin appears translucent where the light hits it, but he’s smiling up at Ethan, tired, in a fair amount of pain, but looking content anyway. “Better,” he says.

Ethan’s heart swells. “I’m glad to hear it,” he says quietly. Will’s hand is warm under his, and he strokes his thumb along the inside of his wrist, lets himself feel the pulse just underneath.

“Shouldn’t you be in debriefing?” Will asks with a wry grin.

“I should,” Ethan agrees. “It’s only a matter of time before Benji and Luther realize I didn’t go for a bathroom break.”

Will laughs a little at that. It’s nowhere close to his usual laugh, but it’s real, and that’s more than enough for Ethan. “They’ll kick your ass.”

“They can try,” Ethan says. “I didn’t defuse nuclear bombs in remote villages just to die at their hands.”

“Yeah, about that,” Will says. “We’re gonna talk about that.”

“Not now, though,” Ethan says. “When you’re better. And then we’re going to talk about _that_.”

“You have no leg to stand on,” Will informs him. “You can’t accuse me of _anything_ , you filthy hypocrite.”

Ethan has to laugh at that. “Not now I won’t,” he says. “Hey, do you think that bed can fit one more?”

“Yeah, I think it can,” Will says, and shifts just a little. It looks like even that much movement is exhausting for him, but he manages to create just enough space for Ethan to join him. Ethan does, kicking off his shoes and getting under the covers as carefully as he can, before turning on his side and propping himself up on his elbow.

“Why don’t you get some rest?” he suggests. “I’ll stay here with you until someone manages to find me.”

Will smiles at him, a tired little quirk of his lips. “Yeah, rest sounds good.” He reaches out, taking Ethan’s hand, and laces their fingers together. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“That’s the plan,” Ethan says, and leans in to kiss his forehead. “I’ll tell you everything when you’re awake.”

“And then I’ll decide how to kick your ass,” Will says, and yawns.

“Maybe I’ll kick yours, for a change,” Ethan suggests.

“You wouldn’t,” Will says, not at all threatened.

Ethan laughs. “We’ll see,” he says. “Come on, now. You need rest.”

Will nods at that and then settles in against Ethan’s side, their hands still joined. Ethan shifts a little to accommodate him, letting him rest his head on Ethan’s shoulder, and makes sure he’s as comfortable as he can be.

The silence in the room is comfortable, kind of warm, even; Ethan wants nothing more than to just close his eyes and go to sleep right here, in bed with Will. He knows he can’t, though, knows he’ll just be woken up rudely if he does, and so he keeps his eyes open, watching Will’s face, the way his eyelashes brush his cheeks when his eyes are closed. He counts Will’s breaths, feels his pulse under his skin, and reassures himself that Will’s alive. And he’s alive too. They’re both here, they’ve both somehow survived the absolutely shit missions they were on, and at least for the time being they’re not in any immediate danger.

Just when he thinks Will’s asleep, though, Will mumbles, “I’m glad you’re home.”

Ethan smiles, even though Will’s eyes are closed and he can’t see it. “Me too,” he whispers.

They’re both alive. At the end of the day, this is all he can hope for.

**Author's Note:**

> listen i love ilsa, i do. but can someone please call up mcquarrie and tell him that just because there's a hot dude and a hot chick they don't HAVE to get together, you know? like, i really enjoyed that migp and mirn didn't have any love stories shoved in there, you know? and i know they didn't like, SHOW it explicitly, but damn it was heavily implied, and i was just sitting there like, he's barely over julia, he has this compulsive need to save the world, you guys really wanna pair him up with a woman who just wants out? really? miss me with that shit.
> 
> sorry. i have a lot of feelings.
> 
> anyway, leave a comment, talk to me about the movie!
> 
> love,  
> remy x


End file.
